Ocaña - The Red Onion Town

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Heritage towns of Colombia

There are 17 heritage towns in Colombia that are spread across the country. Some see more visitors than others, some get more foreign backpackers than others. Some are easily accessible than the others, some are more crowded than the others. There are some that hardly people outside the immediate vicinity know.


Villa de Leyva


Monguí


Mompós


The Bethlehem Beach

Yes I am mentioning about La Playa De Belén, in Norte De Santander. I first saw this place in one of the small documentary movies that get shown (or shall we say used to get shown) in Cine Colombia before the main movie screening.  In fact hardly any Colombian or any one for that matter knew about this place. This made it all the way interesting and excited to make an attempt to visit this place. However, the distance from Bogotá is a factor to consider. As per Google maps, it is a 14 hours drive away. The nearest big cities from this town are Cúcuta and Bucaramanga. Cúcuta is about 5.5 hours away and Bucaramanga is over 6.5 hours away. Hence a visit here can never be a part of the weekend escape travels.


La Playa de Belén

Drive along Ruta de Sol

Driving to La Playa De Belen is not easy, in fact one has to plan for it properly so as to account for the stoppages during the drive which we will cover during the course of the post.


Ruta del Sol



So with some long vacation days ahead I set off on this mission. I am not going to cover the details of the drive and stops till Sabana De Torres, Santander, along the scenic Ruta del Sol. I will have it covered in another post. Sabana de Torres is a recently founded town in Santander department that made perfect sense for me to spend the night.


Sabana de Torres



Sabana de Torres and beyond

From Sabana de Torres, it takes about 20 minutes to join the Ruta de Sol, the road that connects insular Colombia to the Atlantic coast. After crossing San Alberto, Cesar and on the outskirts of Aguachica, is the road to Ocaña, Norte de Santander. From the plains, in about 15 minutes we are driving high up in the Eastern Andes. The route at this point is not very wide. It is a 2 lane road that is not as wide as the other 2 lane roads in Boyacá or in Meta, or so I felt.


The drive up

As the road climbs up the mountains, there are a lot of curves and very beautiful views. There are small veredas or rural settlements along the way. Once over the top, we enter the municipality of Río de Oro. On this side, this is the last town in Cesar. Crossing Río de Oro, we enter Ocaña, the first town in Norte de Santander department.



Ocaña - The red onion town

Cebolla Ocañera, the small red onion comes from this region. Ocaña is located amidst steep mountains and this reminded me of the towns in the coffee region, located along the Central Andes mountains of Colombia. This is the second biggest town of the department. The center is a busy place here and is located at a higher elevation than the surrounding streets. The church is not very huge, however along with the nearby hostel and the municipal palace, creates an illusion of one long continuous structure . The weather here is mild, not too hot or cold. The days are really pleasant while nights can be slightly cold. The center here is very clean and it is obvious that the municipality and the people make efforts. 



I had a good lunch in a nice place in the center. After having a coffee, I spent some time walking in the center, watching people and buildings. There is a Virgin Mary sanctuary in the center carved in a tree that is an identity of this town. There also is a house where Bolívar had stayed during his visit to this town on one side. 



One complaint I had in the center was actually to find a legal place to park. On all sides of the center there were no parking signs while approach roads were narrow. Hence like other Ocañeros had done, I parked the car along the street in a way that would not impact the other vehicles passing by. 



Beyond Ocaña

On the whole, Ocaña is a beautiful town and is located in an important junction between the mountains and the coastal plains of Colombia. At this point, it was almost 3:30 pm and I was still about an hour from my final destination. I started the drive off to La Playa de Belén just when it started to rain.




Adventures in this beautiful town will be covered in the next post.
Location: Ocaña, North Santander, Colombia

Comments

  1. Stef10 January 2021 at 12:01

    This reading was like a really travel, knowing the road, the stops, and visinting the small towns before the final destination. Me gusto :D

    ReplyDelete

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